White coat hypertension in a general practice: Prevalence, cardiovascular risk factors and clinical implications

Objective - To examine the prevalence of white coat hypertension (WCH) and white coat effect (WCE) in a general practice. Background and biochemical characteristics, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, microalbuminuria, ECG, smoking habits, height and weight of patients with white coat hypertension were compared to patients with sustained hypertension. Design - Blood pressure measurements among mild hypertensives in clinic visits by doctor and at home by the patients.Setting - A primary health centre in Oslo, Norway. Subjects - Sixty-eight patients with mild hypertension (41 females and 27 males) aged 20-75 years. Main outcome measures - Patients had their blood pressure measured in clinic visits by general practitioners and by themselves at home to study the prevalence of WCH and the WCE. WCH was defined as a consistently increased blood pressure in the clinic and a normal home-measured blood pressure. WCE was defined as a difference in mean systolic blood pressure m...